


Night Shift

by Linorien



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 06:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12337182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: An ordinary night shift reveals an unusual Q branch secret.





	Night Shift

**Author's Note:**

> A story written 99% in class today.

Karen was not fond of night shifts. It was too quiet. The few people here with here were spread out around the branch, managing their own departments or buried in projects with imminent deadlines. 

Every so often, Q or R would also be here at night. But that usually meant that there was a big mission going wrong and the main room was far from empty.

Tonight was not one of those nights.

Tonight she could hear the clack of Saahil’s keyboard, the background hum of machinery, the rock music Taylor was blasting two floors below in Auto, and if she strained her ears, she thought she could hear the waves of the Thames somewhere above her.

”You falling asleep over there, Karen?” Saahil asked.

“If I was, would it really be a surprise?” she replied. “Organising old blueprints isn’t the most interesting of tasks.”

“Come on,” he swivelled his chair to smile at her. “You get to dig through illegible handwriting, poorly scanned papers, vaguely labelled objects, what more do you want?”

Karen picked up her William Shakespeare rubber duck and threw it at his head.

Saahil only laughed as he leaned out of the way. “Is that any way to treat dear William?”

“He’s as bored as I am.”

Saahil wheeled over to pick up the duck and return it to Karen. “Keep your chin up. You’ve only got five weeks left in your training program. I know it seems slow, but soon it will be busier and you will long for simpler times.” He looked at the blueprint on her screen. “Oh that’s an awful scan.”

“Tell me about it. And the exploded view has water damage.”

“List of components?”

“Burned.”

“Wow.” This is why their branch was working to digitize the old files. “Why don’t you stretch your legs and go track down the prototype. Then you can reverse engineer it.”

Karen jotted down the part number and walked to the storage tunnel entrance. She grabbed a torch from the shelf and entered her ID. The keypad lit up green, she pushed open the door, and entered the tunnel.

Now she was sure that she could hear the Thames. She didn’t like it. It was too close. Part K332. She had a ways to go in the tunnel. The further she walked, the less she liked it. 

Every step echoed. A...B... Her torch beam was the only light available. C...D... The walls felt like they were getting closer. E...F... She tried humming a song, but the bounced noises were worse. G...H...

Something furry brushed her leg and she lept away with a gasp, dropping her light in surprise. It went out.

“Who is responsible for designing that?” she asked of the darkness. 

She didn’t expect the darkness to reply.

“They were sent to us by Health and Safety,” a voice said. “Made in Britain stamp and all.”

The light came back on and she saw a sweatered arm holding it out to her. Her eyes followed the arm up to the face of an old man with a kind smile.

“Well come on, take the light and let’s chase down that part.”

Karen took back the torch. As soon as she did, the man started forward. “How do you know I am looking for a part?”

“Silly question. Why else would anyone be in the tunnels? Now what is the part number?”

She pulled out the scrap of paper. “K332.”

“Ah, I believe that was in the lockpick series. One of the electric ones if I remember right.”

Karen punched in her ID number to unlock room K. “How do you know so much?”

She didn’t hear an answer. The security measures disengaged and she turned around to look at the old man, but he was gone. She searched with the light, but saw no sign of him. A beep reminded her to step through the archway fast.

Quickly, she found the part on the shelf, it was a lockpick, and returned to the command centre without any other disruptions.

“Saahil, there was an old man in the tunnels,” she said when she returned. “Who is that?”

“Ah, you met Boothroyd. I thought you might. That’s usually a sign that you will do well in Q branch. Q frequently visits the tunnels to talk to him.”

“And he lives in the tunnels?” She set the part down on her desk and looked back at Saahil.

“Well, lives isn’t the right word.” Karen frowned. “He died about seven years ago. This is a ghost.”


End file.
